Efficient use of link resources is a concern in a wide range of communication systems. In certain instances, a terminal within a communication network may need to transmit or receive a message that requires use of a link or channel for only a very brief period of time. Sending such brief messages may be inefficient from a link usage standpoint, since the duration of the message itself may be a small fraction of the overall time required to establish and then tear down the link or channel required to transmit the message between transmitting and receiving terminals.
For example, the Iridium satellite system provides worldwide voice and data service to geographically distributed subscriber units (e.g., radios) using a constellation of low Earth orbit satellites. Each satellite contributes an array of antenna spot beams such that the satellite constellation provides coverage over the entire surface of the Earth. Iridium subscriber units may acquire information, such as sensor data, that needs to be shared with other units or with a network manager or a gateway device linked to other networks. One example of sensor data is position location information (PLI) such as GPS position data that indicates the subscriber unit's current position. In order to transmit data, a terminal must first establish a communication session with a satellite, which results in several seconds of link usage to transmit a message having a transmission duration of a fraction of a second. When numerous terminals are required to periodically transmit such data messages, a significant impact on link resources results. Accordingly, it would be desirable in this and other communication network contexts to have an efficient approach to transmitting intermittent data traffic or short burst messages.